February 2, 2009

The Wisconsin Private College Championship is the final tune-up before we head into the championship season. It's always been a bit of a crap shoot - some of our guys have begun the descent into taper while others still have a couple of weeks of training at full speed. There's another wrinkle this year as conference is a week later, so we've got two open weekends leading into the conference meet.

In addition to being the final tune-up for guys, it's also a chance for them to get a last shot at one of their off events. We post the all-time top 50 lists and update them as the meet goes along. The highlight of the day has to be Stephen Schranck's downing of our school record in the 500 freestyle. We suited him up and he rocketed to a 4:34.4 - where he ranks 10th nationally - five spots higher, interestingly enough, than his best event - the 200 breast. Of course, not all of the swims are as impressive - we stuck Chris Steenrod, in the 50 free where he went a time of - well, we'll just say it ranks 804th in Division III.